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Why The Great Wall Whitewashing Accusations Are Wrong

We live in the age of perpetual internet
anger. As well as making information easier to access, there is a seemingly
endless stream of outrage about one thing or another on social media. Although
this can be a useful tool, those who are quick to react without first obtaining
all of the fact can end up looking like the tool. Online fervor over the
casting of Matt Damon in the Chinese fantasy epic, The Great Wall, is the latest casualty of casual internet
stupidity. Allow me to take the time to inform the indignant of their
ignorance.

First off, let me focus on the error in
semantics behind these accusations. “Whitewashing” is the practice of casting
white actors in traditionally or historically non-white roles. In the worst instances
of this, the actor may even wear make-up to appear a different ethnicity than
they actually are. Classic examples of this include Mickey Rooney being cast as
the Japanese landlord in Breakfast at
Tiffany’s (1961), Laurence Olivier playing the title character in an
adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Othello
(1964), or when John Wayne inexplicably decided it was a good idea to play
Mongolian emperor Genghis Khan. But the past is not the only place this has
been an issue, unfortunately. In only the past few years there have been
numerous examples of legitimate whitewashing, from Johnny Depp and Rooney Mara
being cast to play iconic pop culture Native Americans in The Lone Ranger (2013) and Pan
(2015), respectively. And let’s not forget the odd decision to have primarily
white actors in Ridley Scott’s Exodus:
Gods and Kings (2014), and a similar lack of Egyptian faces in a film
actually called Gods of Egypt (2016).
There have also been complaints about Scarlett Johansson and Michael Pitt being
cast in the upcoming remake of the classic anime, Ghost in the Shell, and some uproar over Tilda Swinton being chosen
to play the Himalayan Ancient One in last year’s Doctor Strange. In short, there are many valid examples, but The Great Wall is not one of them.

So, why is it wrong to accuse The Great Wall of whitewashing? For one
thing, the role played by Matt Damon was never intended to be played by a
Chinese actor. The character was written as an outsider from the very
beginning. This is clearly not the same thing as having a white actor play a
traditionally non-white role, and anyone saying otherwise is simply uninformed.

But there are still those who would make
accusations of cultural insensitivity in having Matt Damon as the white hero in
a film taking place in China. This might be true, if it weren’t for two facts.
First and foremost, those accusing Hollywood of always casting a white hero
should research the production of The
Great Wall, because this was primarily a Chinese production. Just because there is a Hollywood star in the movie does not make this a Hollywood film, just as the casting of Chinese movie star Donnie Yen in Rogue One did not make that a Chinese film. Most filming for The Great Wall
was done in China, with a well-respected Chinese director (Yimou Zhang) at the
helm, and primarily Chinese financing. So, although this movie is being
released in the United States, it is a Chinese film (nearly half of the
dialogue is in Chinese), which explains why it came out last year in China and
has only now hit theaters in the Unites States. While it may seem typical to
have a film with a white hero in a Hollywood film, this is atypical in a
Chinese film, where they are more commonly cast as the villain. In fact, this is exactly the role of the other two white actors cast in the production.

The second reason that it is ignorant to
accuse the film of “cultural misappropriation” is a simple lack of knowledge
about the content within the film. Constance Wu publicly criticized the film
for having a white man as the driving force for building the Great Wall of
China, which is completely inaccurate. The wall is built long before Damon’s
character ever arrives. Some might say that this does not excuse having a white
man as the savior in the film, but this would also quickly be squashed if only
these critics were to watch the film.

Damon’s character eventually does help to stop the creatures
in the movie, but he originally arrives as a mere thief with no allegiances to
anyone but himself (and perhaps his partner in crime). The “white man” in the
film is not the hero, but a selfish crook only concerned with monetary wealth,
only turned honorable through the example of the Chinese soldiers he eventually
fights alongside. And in the end (slight spoiler alert), it isn’t Damon’s
character that ultimately saves the day, but the Chinese protagonists played by
Tian Jing and Andy Lau. In fact, Jing is the film’s overall hero, making this a
film with a female hero, not to mention one that is Chinese.

Now, let me make one thing absolutely
clear. Just because this film does not use whitewashing or cultural
misappropriation does not make it a good film. Far from Yimou’s greatest
achievement, The Great Wall is a
mildly diverting blockbuster. But even if it isn’t great, nothing about The Great Wall is deserving of the
online trolling it was subjected to. There are plenty of things to get angry
about online, most of which are not fictional films with giant creatures. And
if you still feel getting mad at the movie industry is your prerogative, at
least do a little research before unnecessarily spreading that hatred online.